Joseph's imprisonment wasn't just a random act of misfortune. It was, in a way, a consequence for speaking ill of his brothers before their father, Jacob. The price? Ten long years behind bars. But it was also a reward for his incredible integrity and unwavering faith, his commitment to Kiddush (the sanctification blessing over wine) Hashem, sanctifying God's name.
As a sign of divine favor, the Hebrew letter He, which appears twice in God’s name, was added to Joseph's name, transforming him into Jehoseph. But even within the cold, harsh walls of the prison, Joseph couldn't escape the relentless attention of Potiphar's wife, Zuleika. Her passion hadn't diminished, and she saw imprisonment as an opportunity to finally bend him to her will.
She pleaded, threatened, and even offered him freedom in exchange for his compliance. "This and that outrage have I executed against thee," she'd say, "but, as thou livest, I will put yet other outrages upon thee if thou dost not obey me." But Joseph, unwavering in his faith, responded with verses, each a testament to his trust in God. To Zuleika's threats, he countered with the Lord's love for the righteous and His protection of strangers. He famously declared, "Better it is to remain here than be with thee and commit a trespass against God."
Eventually, Zuleika gave up her pursuit. But even as a prisoner, Joseph retained his master's favor. He continued to serve Potiphar, even receiving permission to spend time outside the prison walls, in Potiphar's house. The jailer, impressed by Joseph's diligence, integrity, and captivating presence, made his life as comfortable as possible. He gave him better food and, eventually, made him overseer of the entire prison. Imagine that – a prisoner running the prison! The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) tells us the jailer could see no wrong in him, and he observed that God was with him.
Then, in a twist of fate, two high-ranking officials – the chief butler and the chief baker – offended the king of Egypt and were thrown into the same prison. According to Midrash Rabbah, God orchestrated this to divert attention from Joseph's scandal and, more importantly, to set the stage for his eventual release. The accusations against them were serious: attempting to harm Pharaoh's daughter and conspiring to poison the king! A fly in the wine and a pebble in the bread were the (alleged) evidence.
Divine providence was at play, says Ginzberg. The king's wrath was kindled so that Joseph's wish for liberty might be fulfilled, for they were the instruments of his deliverance from prison.
After a decade of imprisonment, both the butler and the baker had strange, vivid dreams on the same night. Joseph, noticing their distress, inquired about their well-being, following the manner of the sages. They explained their shared predicament: two similar dreams, with no one to interpret them. "God granteth understanding to man to interpret dreams. Tell them me, I pray you," Joseph replied.
The chief butler recounted his dream of a vine with three branches, ripe grapes, and pressing them into Pharaoh's cup. Joseph, according to Legends of the Jews, saw a deeper meaning, a prophecy of Israel's future. The three branches represented the three patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The redemption from Egypt would come through three leaders: Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. The cup given to Pharaoh symbolized the cup of wrath he would ultimately have to drink.
However, Joseph kept this profound interpretation to himself. Instead, he offered the butler a favorable interpretation of his personal dream, asking him to remember him and help him gain freedom when he was restored to his position.
The chief baker, emboldened by the butler's positive interpretation, shared his dream: three baskets of white bread on his head, with birds eating the baked goods from the uppermost basket. Again, Joseph saw a hidden prophecy: the three baskets represented the three kingdoms that would subjugate Israel – Babylon, Media, and Greece. The uppermost basket symbolized the wicked rule of Rome, which would dominate until the coming of the Messiah, the "bird" who would annihilate Rome.
Joseph kept this prophecy secret as well, offering the baker only a grim interpretation of his personal fate. Three days later, on Pharaoh's birthday, Joseph's predictions came true. The chief butler was restored to his position, and the chief baker was hanged. Pharaoh's counselors had uncovered the baker's carelessness and his involvement in the plot to poison the king.
But what about Joseph? Would the butler remember him, as he had promised? We’ll have to tune in next time to see how this story continues to unfold... because, as we all know, the story of Joseph is far from over. It's a testament to faith, resilience, and the often-unforeseen ways in which divine providence shapes our lives. And it reminds us that even in the darkest of times, hope can still blossom, even in a prison cell.
By way of punishment for having traduced his ten brethren before his father, Joseph had to languish for ten years in the prison to which the wiles of traducers had in turn condemned him. But, on the other hand, as he had sanctified the Name of God before the world by his chastity and his steadfastness, he was rewarded. The letter He, which occurs twice in the Name of God, was added to his name. He had been called Joseph, but now he was called also Jehoseph. Though he was bound in prison, Joseph was not yet safe from the machinations of his mistress, whose passion for him was in no wise lessened. In truth it was she that had induced her husband to change his intention regarding Joseph; she urged him to imprison the slave rather than kill him, for she hoped that as a prisoner he could be made amenable to her wishes more easily. She spake to her husband, saying: "Do not destroy thy property. Cast the slave in prison and keep him there until thou canst sell him, and receive back the money thou didst pay out for him." Thus she had the opportunity of visiting Joseph in his cell and trying to persuade him to do her will. She would say, "This and that outrage have I executed against thee, but, as thou livest, I will put yet other outrages upon thee if thou dost not obey me." But Joseph replied, "The Lord executeth judgment for the oppressed." Zuleika: "I will push matters so far that all men will hate thee." Joseph: "The Lord loveth the righteous." Zuleika: "I will sell thee into a strange land." Joseph: "The Lord preserveth the strangers." Then she would resort to enticements in order to obtain her desire. She would promise to release him from prison, if he would but grant her wish. But he would say, "Better it is to remain here than be with thee and commit a trespass against God." These visits to Joseph in prison Zuleika continued for a long time, but when, finally, she saw that all her hopes were vain, she let him alone. As the mistress persisted in her love for Joseph, so his master, her husband, could not separate himself from his favorite slave. Though a prisoner, Joseph continued to minister to the needs of Potiphar, and he received permission from the keeper of the prison to spend some of his time in his master's house. In many other ways the jailer showed himself kindly disposed toward Joseph. Seeing the youth's zeal and conscientiousness in executing the tasks laid upon him, and under the spell of his enchanting beauty, he made prison life as easy as possible for his charge. He even ordered better dishes for him than the common prison fare, and he found it superfluous caution to keep watch over Joseph, for he could see no wrong in him, and he observed that God was with him, in good days and in bad. He even appointed him to be the overseer of the prison, and as Joseph commanded, so the other prisoners were obliged to do. For a long time the people talked of nothing but the accusation raised against Joseph by his mistress. In order to divert the attention of the public from him, God ordained that two high officers, the chief butler and the chief baker, should offend their lord, the king of Egypt, and they were put in ward in the house of the captain of the guard. Now the people ceased their talk about Joseph, and spoke only of the scandal at court. The charges laid at the door of the noble prisoners were that they had attempted to do violence to the daughter of Pharaoh, and they had conspired to poison the king himself. Besides, they had shown themselves derelict in their service. In the wine the chief butler had handed to the king to drink, a fly had been discovered, and the bread set upon the royal board by the chief baker contained a little pebble." On account of all these transgressions they were condemned to death by Pharaoh, but for the sake of Joseph it was ordained by Divine providence that the king should first detain them in prison before he ordered their execution. The Lord had enkindled the wrath of the king against his servants only that the wish of Joseph for liberty might be fulfilled, for they were the instruments of his deliverance from prison, and though they were doomed to death, yet in consideration of the exalted office they had held at court, the keeper of the prison accorded them privileges, as, for instance, a man was detailed to wait upon them, and the one appointed thereto was Joseph. 1] The chief butler and the chief baker had been confined in prison ten years, when they dreamed a dream, both of them, but as for the interpretation, each dreamed only that of the other one's dream. In the morning when Joseph brought them the water for washing, he found them sad, depressed in spirits, and, in the manner of the sages, he asked them why they looked different on that day from other days. They said unto him, "We have dreamed a dream this night, and our two dreams resemble each other in certain particulars, and there is none that can interpret them." And Joseph said unto them: "God granteth understanding to man to interpret dreams. Tell them me, I pray you." It was as a reward for ascribing greatness and credit to Him unto whom it belongeth that Joseph later attained to his lofty position. The chief butler proceeded to tell his dream: "In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; and in the vine were three branches; and it was as though it budded, and its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes; and Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand." The chief butler was not aware that his dream contained a prophecy regarding the future of Israel, but Joseph discerned the recondite meaning, and he interpreted the dream thus: The three branches are the three Fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose descendants in Egypt will be redeemed by three leaders, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; and the cup given into the hand of Pharaoh is the cup of wrath that he will have to drain in the end. This interpretation of the dream Joseph kept for himself, and he told the chief butler nothing thereof, but out of gratitude for the glad tidings of the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, he gave him a favorable interpretation of his dream, and begged him to have him in his remembrance, when it should be well with him, and liberate him from the dungeon in which he was confined. When the chief baker heard the interpretation of the butler's dream, he knew that Joseph had divined its meaning correctly, for in his own he had seen the interpretation of his friend's dream, and he proceeded to tell Joseph what he had dreamed in the night: "I also was in my dream, and, behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head; and in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head." Also this dream conveyed a prophecy regarding the future of Israel: The three baskets are the three kingdoms to which Israel will be made subject, Babylon, Media, and Greece; and the uppermost basket indicates the wicked rule of Rome, which will extend over all the nations of the world, until the bird shall come, who is the Messiah, and annihilate Rome. Again Joseph kept the prophecy a secret. To the chief baker he gave only the interpretation that had reference to his person, but it was unfavorable to him, because through his dream Joseph had been made acquainted with the suffering Israel would have to undergo. And all came to pass, as Joseph had said, on the third day. The day whereon he explained the meaning of their dreams to the two distinguished prisoners, a son was born unto Pharaoh and to celebrate the joyous event, the king arranged a feast for his princes and servants that was to last eight days. He invited them and all the people to his table, and he entertained them with royal splendor. The feast had its beginning on the third day after the birth of the child, and on that occasion the chief butler was restored in honor to his butlership, and the chief baker was hanged, for Pharaoh's counsellors had discovered that it was not the butler's fault that the fly had dropped into the king's wine, but the baker had been guilty of carelessness in allowing the pebble to get into the bread. Likewise it appeared that the butler had had no part in the conspiracy to poison the king, while the baker was revealed as one of the plotters, and he had to expiate his crime with his life.
